Military Muscle: What happens when you take away the gym - Military Health, military health and wellness, military physical fitness - Military Times

Military Muscle: What happens when you take away the gym

Q. Most workouts that appear in this column require machines, free weights, benches, resistance tubes, etc. I have seen that CrossFit uses truck tires and water-filled jugs, ammo cans and pipes as pull-up bars. What do you have that is as natural as it gets?

Warm-up (No rest required.)

• Glute bridge: Lie on your back with your knees bent. Your thighs should be perpendicular to the floor, and your feet should be on the ground. Squeeze your glutes tight and raise your pelvis so there is a straight line between your chest and your knees. Hold for two seconds. (10 reps.)

• Backward lunge: Stand with one leg about 3 feet behind the other. Touch the knee of your back leg to the ground and rise up. (Five reps.)

• March in place for 30 seconds: Bring your knees at least waist high. Rest for 30 seconds; repeat.

• Walking knee hug to chest: Step forward and bring the knee of your opposite leg as high as possible. Grasp your knee and pull into the body; hold for two seconds and repeat on opposite leg. Keep back straight. (Five reps.)

Workout (Two rounds each.)

• Squat jumps: Squat until your knees are at least 90 degrees and power up as high as possible; land in a soft knee position. (10 reps.)

• Push-ups: Perform two each with hands outside shoulders, hands at shoulders, hands inside shoulders, hands in diamond, clapping push-ups. (10 reps.)

• Jump rope: Jump for one minute and rest for 30 seconds. Jump normally for 20 seconds, then jump bringing your knees as high as possible for 10 seconds. Rest for 30 seconds. Repeat this cycle three times and then jump normally for one minute.

• Power skip: Skip 30 yards, getting the maximum vertical and horizontal distance. Repeat three times. Rest for one minute.

• Push-ups: As above. (10 reps.)

• Jingle jangles: Place markers 5 yards apart. Sprint back and forth between these marks six times. (Six reps.)

Stretch

Stretching is critical after this workout. Hold each stretch for 20 seconds, relax, then repeat. For legs-in-the-air stretches, loop a rope around your foot. Gently pulling the rope toward your chest increases the stretch.

For more exercises to take you out of the gym, check out parkour, an activity in which you use your body in a disciplined manner to move over, under or around obstacles in nature or an urban environment. Visit www.americanparkour.com.